Successful Inclusion for Educational Leaders

by Bartlett, Larry D.; Weisenstein, Greg R.; Etscheidt, Susan

• ISBN13: 9780130404886
• ISBN10: 0130404888
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2002-01-01
• Publisher: Allyn & Bacon

Summary

This book outlines and explains the requirements of special education law as it applies to regular and special education. It tackles the difficult and sometimes complicated issues of inclusion, student discipline, IEP development, transitioning, and working with parents. Its strength is presenting special education law in easy-to-understand language and its use of best practices in implementing the law.Inclusion Basics; Working with Parents and Parent Rights; Due Process Hearings, Mediation, and Complaints; Identification and Evaluation of Students; Individualized Education Programs; Placement; Preschool and Infant and Toddler Programs; Secondary School Considerations; Discipline; Student Relationships; Staff Relationships and Staffing Patterns; Budget and Funding; Autism; Emotional Disturbance/Behavior Disorders (EBD); Mental Retardation/Mental Disabilities (MD); Specific Learning Disability (LD); Orthopedic Impairment/Physical Disabilities; Speech or Language Impairment; Other Health Impairment (OHI); and Low Incidence Disabilities.

Table of Contents

PART I LEGAL AND POLICY ISSUES	1	(210)
Inclusion Basics	3	(20)
Chapter Preview	3	(3)
Basic Special Education and Inclusion Considerations	6	(9)
Approaches to Compliance	15	(2)
New Challenges and Thoughts	17	(6)
Working with Parents and Parent Rights	23	(22)
Chapter Preview	24	(2)
The Role of Parents	26	(1)
Legal Issues	27	(3)
Parental Rights---Practical Safeguards	30	(4)
Approaches to Improving Communication	34	(3)
Parent Services	37	(4)
School Choice and Its Implications	41	(1)
Conclusion	42	(3)
Due Process Hearings, Meditation, and Complaints	45	(14)
Chapter Preview	46	(2)
The Shadow of Due Process Hearings	48	(1)
Legal Issues	49	(3)
Alternative Approaches to Resolving Problems	52	(2)
Preparation for the Hearing	54	(2)
School's Defense	56	(1)
Conclusion	57	(2)
Identification and Evaluation of Students	59	(16)
Chapter Preview	60	(2)
Child Find	62	(1)
Evaluations	62	(2)
Legal Issues	64	(2)
Problems of Identification, Evaluation, and Bias	66	(2)
Approaches to Resolving Problems	68	(4)
Conclusion	72	(3)
Individualized Education Programs (IEPs)	75	(26)
Chapter Preview	76	(2)
The IEP: Key to the IDEA	78	(1)
Legal Issues	78	(7)
Elements of an IEP	85	(8)
Other IEP Issues	93	(2)
Approaches to Resolving Problems	95	(2)
Conclusion	97	(1)
View from the Court Bench	97	(4)
Placement	101	(32)
Chapter Preview	102	(2)
Problems in Placement	104	(1)
Legal Issues	104	(4)
Least Restrictive Environment	108	(3)
The Philosophy of Inclusion	111	(2)
Inclusion Decision-Making	113	(4)
Procedural Safeguards	117	(1)
Extended School Year (ESY) Services	117	(1)
Private School Placement	118	(1)
Approaches to Resolving Problems	119	(9)
Conclusion	128	(5)
Infant and Toddler and Preschool Programs	133	(18)
Chapter Preview	134	(2)
Emerging Early Childhood and Preschool Program	136	(3)
Legal Aspects	139	(3)
Approaches to Resolving Problems	142	(6)
Conclusion	148	(3)
Secondary School Considerations	151	(30)
Chapter Preview	152	(2)
Coping with Secondary School	154	(1)
Legal Issues	155	(1)
Transition in the IEP	156	(3)
Importance of the IEP in Inclusion	159	(5)
Career and Vocational Education in the IEP	164	(7)
The Principal's Role	171	(1)
The Question of Diplomas, Transcripts, and Honor Rolls	172	(2)
Nonacademic Considerations	174	(2)
Transfer of Rights in Some States---Age of Majority	176	(1)
General Considerations	176	(1)
Conclusion	177	(4)
Discipline	181	(30)
Chapter Preview	182	(3)
Concerns for Educational Leaders	185	(1)
Legal History Under the Act	185	(1)
Legal Requirements	186	(13)
The IEP Process	199	(1)
The Continuing Dilemma	199	(2)
Approaches to Resolving Problems	201	(5)
Cultural Awareness	206	(1)
Conclusion	207	(1)
View from the Court Bench	208	(3)
PART II ADMINISTRATIVE ISSUES	211	(64)
Student Relationships	213	(16)
Chapter Preview	214	(1)
Peer Interactions	215	(2)
The Inclusion Model	217	(2)
Cooperative Learning Activities	219	(3)
Collaborative Problem-solving	222	(1)
Peer Tutoring	223	(2)
Attitude Change Programs	225	(1)
Conclusion	226	(3)
Staff Relationships and Staffing Patterns	229	(24)
Chapter Preview	230	(2)
Inherent Staffing Issues in the IDEA	232	(5)
Interstate School Leaders Licensure Consortium (ISLLC) Guidelines Personnel Functions	237	(1)
Collaborative Roles	238	(6)
New Roles for Educators	244	(1)
Teacher Associates	245	(2)
Comprehension System of Personnel Development	247	(1)
Conclusion	248	(5)
Budget and Funding	253	(22)
Chapter Preview	254	(2)
Coping with Budgets and Funding	256	(1)
Legal Issues	256	(4)
Relationship Between Services and Costs	260	(1)
A Taxonomy of Special Education Finance	261	(3)
Sources of Revenue	264	(6)
Preparing Budgets	270	(1)
Funding Trends	271	(1)
Conclusion	272	(3)
PART III EXCEPTIONALITY IN CHILDREN AND ADOLESCENTS	275	(82)
Autism	277	(10)
Chapter Preview	278	(1)
Federal Definition of Autism	279	(1)
Referral and Initial Assessment	279	(1)
Characteristics of Autism	279	(1)
Instruction	280	(2)
Related Services	282	(1)
Inclusion Strategies	283	(4)
Emotional Distrubance/Behavioral Disorders (EBD)	287	(12)
Chapter Preview	288	(1)
Federal Definition of EBD	289	(1)
Referral and Initial Assessment	289	(1)
Characteristics of EBD	290	(1)
Instruction	291	(1)
Behavior Management	292	(1)
Related Services	293	(1)
Inclusion Strategies	294	(5)
Mental Disabilities or Retardation	299	(8)
Chapter Preview	300	(1)
Federal Definition of Mental Disability or Retardation	301	(1)
Referral and Initial Assessment	301	(1)
Characteristics of Mental Disabilities	302	(1)
Instruction	302	(1)
Related Services	303	(1)
Inclusion Strategies	304	(3)
Specific Learning Disability	307	(8)
Chapter Preview	308	(1)
Federal Definition of Learning Disability	309	(1)
Referral and Initial Assessment	309	(1)
Characteristics of Learning Disabilities	310	(1)
Instruction	310	(1)
Related Services	311	(1)
Inclusion Strategies	311	(4)
Orthopedic Impairments (Physical Disabilities)	315	(10)
Chapter Preview	316	(1)
Federal Definition of Orthopedic Impairments	317	(1)
Referral and Initial Assessment	317	(1)
Characteristics of Physical Disabilities	317	(2)
Instruction	319	(1)
Related Services	319	(2)
Inclusion Strategies	321	(4)
Speech and Language Impairment	325	(6)
Chapter Preview	326	(1)
Federal Definition of Speech and Language Impairment	327	(1)
Referral and Initial Assessment	327	(1)
Characteristics of Speech and Language Impairment	327	(1)
Instruction and Related Services	328	(1)
Inclusion Strategies	329	(2)
Other Health Impairments (OHI)	331	(10)
Chapter Preview	332	(1)
Federal Definition of OHI	333	(1)
Referral and Initial Assessment	333	(1)
Characteristics of OHI	333	(2)
Instruction	335	(1)
Inclusion Strategies	336	(5)
Low-Incidence Disabilities	341	(16)
Chapter Preview	342	(2)
TBI	344	(2)
Visual Impairments Including Blindness	346	(2)
Deafness and Hearing Impairment	348	(3)
Multiple Handicaps and Deafness-Blindness	351	(6)
Appendix	357	(26)
Name Index	383	(8)
Subject Index	391

Excerpts

Nearly 25 years ago, the Congress and president of the United States declared the public policy of this nation to be one of access to public education forallchildren. Only when the educational needs of a child with disabilities cannot be appropriately met with peers in a public school educational setting may the child be educated in alternative settings. Even segregated settings must provide for meaningful interaction with typical peers.This enunciation of public policy has resulted in a degree of tension between some educators who would exclude those students who present challenges to their traditional teaching methods and those educators, who in the absence of a justifiable educational reason, disavow the exclusion of children from an educational setting with their peers. This tension is most easily identified in the outworn and legally questionable concept of "mainstreaming." Although the laws of the nation and most states require that students with disabilities be educated in regular education settings "to the maximum extent appropriate," a contrary practice was established. It recognized a "two box" model of regular education and special education, in which both seldom occurred in the same place at the same time. Instead, under the mainstreaming concept, it was expected that children with disabilities would be educated with peers without disabilities only when they could exhibit the proper conduct and could acquire an academic level commensurate with their peers. In the minds of many educators, students with disabilities were expected to "earn" their way into a regular class setting.In the late 1980s and early 1990s, after 15 years under the national legislation, court interpretations suddenly collided with educators' complacent thinking. The courts ruled that no matter what the concept was called, the process had to be revised. Instead of a child with disabilities having to earn the right to be in a classroom with peers, all considerations of child placement were to begin with the child being placed in the regular class or activity setting. Only when the regular school setting was deemed not appropriate, for an educationally justifiable reason, could an education for the child even be considered in a special setting.No court interpretation or administrative agency interpretation of special education law has ever found that "full inclusion" (all children with disabilities educated in the regular education classroom they would attend if not disabled) is required. Although the authors of this book salute those who attempt full inclusion, they do not endorse it in its strictest sense as an educationally viable concept. There are some students with disabilities whose needs are such that their presence in a regular class or activity setting is not educationally justifiable or appropriate.The current approach of presuming regular education placement as the first choice has caught many educators, in both special and regular education, unprepared. This was not the paradigm in which most educators had been trained. This was not the system in which many had spent their professional life. That was not what many were ready to implement. Thus, a large part of new interpretations and understandings of education for children with disabilities has been either rejected or ignored by many practitioners, in both regular and special education.We sincerely believe that much of the reluctance of educators to embrace and practice what has been legally mandated--but largely ignored for 25 years--is not based in laziness, uncaring attitude, or evil intent. Rather it is based in inexperience and the inertia of organizational structures. The purpose ofSuccessful Inclusion for Educational Leadersis to provide background information on legal mandates, with the current status of law stated as clearly as possible, and to point toward successful solutions based in research and best prac